It was barely 60F when we met and started our slow drive up into the Blue Ridge. Our first stop at Craven Gap was excellent with the songs of Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting and Hooded Warbler all vying for our attention.

A family of somewhat scruffy juvenile Black-throated Green Warblers barely showed any yellow on the cheeks and a Worm-eating Warbler must have had chicks in the dense vegetation below us..

We stop-started our way into the higher elevations listening to the songs of Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireos, but one of the highlights had to be the beautiful song of the Hermit Thrush along a section of the Mountains to the Sea Trail; surely one of North America’s finest songsters.

A male Canada Warbler chipped away in the understory before posing on a bare branch allowing us to enjoy every feather. We finished our day along a section of the Big Butt Trail where a family of Canada Warblers joined several Dark-eyed Juncos, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Hairy Woodpecker, Blackburnian Warbler and a Pine Siskin in investigating our “pishing” noises – simply amazing.

I think the temperature may have hit 70F today; simply a gorgeous day in the Blue Ridge.